Tom & Rene Springall

Our names are Rene and Tom, and although originally from Indonesia and the UK respectively we have lived all around the world as f...

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Our names are Rene and Tom, and although originally from Indonesia and the UK respectively we have lived all around the world as far afield as Azerbaijan and Malaysia.

Both of us love Bali and have made several trips together here over the years. Tom is a fanatical diver which drew us first to East Bali, where in 2004 we decided to buy our first villa (and our first house anywhere) close to Candidasa and directly on a white sand beach with a great reef directly offshore that was perfect for snorkeling. We named it Villa Talia Vashti after our little daughter (Talia Vashti Springall).

In 2007 we were blessed with a second daughter, who we named Kalisha. We realised we were in trouble now though as she was bound to be jealous that her sister had a villa and she did not. Rene had always wanted a place up in the mountains where the temperatures were pleasant and cool all day, but she also wanted to be close enough to Ubud to be able to enjoy the restaurants and attractions of the area. We found a great villa, but it was in a bad state of repair, was not safe for kids, and lacked some basic essentials like a staff quarters and any storage. We decided to buy it anyway and named it after our second daughter, and then committed to a major renovation, an enormous task given every single thing we needed for the renovation had to be carried by hand along the path to the villa, and similarly rubble and waste had to be carried back again. Finally 6 months later, the villa was finally finished and we renamed it Villa Kalisha to avoid any sibling arguments later in life.

In early 2008 Tom gave up the corporate life and we settled in Bali and bought a great villa in Seminyak that was close to everything - this time to live in ourselves. Unfortunately it was spectacularly bad timing to try and set up a new life as the Financial Crisis hit, and so we went back on the expatriate road again, this time to Bangkok in Thailand.

When we left Bali in late 2009 to go to live in Bangkok, and so renamed our lovely home Villa Rene (after my wife) and rented it out with our other villas. We always loved Villa Rene, and it is still my wife's favourite villa, but even we were surprised on how many enquiries we received for it as it is not spectacular like our other villas.

In 2012 the kids said that Daddy needed to have a villa as well. With the money from the corporate job in Thailand, we were lucky enough to be able to buy a fourth villa to another villa. We wanted a villa that was totally different again from our other villas, and so this time we chose a villa at the top of probably the highest hill on the Bukit, close to Jimbaran and with spectacular views out over the cliffs to the ocean and the sunset every night. We named the villa "Villa Leana" which is our daughter Kalisha's 2nd name, although the kids still call it "Daddy's Villa".

In 2012 we tried again to escape the corporate rat race, and this time we were successful and so we now manage our own 4 villas full time. Since then we have also started to manage some other great villas from friends and neighbours. Firstly we took on Villa Anjani, a lovely 5 bedroom villa right on a small white sand beach and almost next to Villa Talia Vashti.

In 2013 we started to manage Villa Bali Blue, neighbours to our Villa Leana villa. Villa Bali Blue enjoys the same views, but is a much larger villa with a pool table and entertainment room, and is excellent for families with older kids or groups of adults. We now look after many great villas in Bali - so this is now our life!

We still find it hard to believe that we could end up owning one amazing villa in Bali, let alone four and so we often have to pinch ourselves to believe that these are really our villas when we stay at them with our little daughters, which we try and do whenever we can. In any case we think they are all really special places and we hope that get as much enjoyment from our villas as we do.

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